


Striil

by sootnose



Series: Mando Savage & Family [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Mandalorian Savage Opress, Mando'a, Other, strill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25901599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sootnose/pseuds/sootnose
Summary: A feralraccoonstrill seeks food during a harsh winter. Unusually for this series, this piece is genuinely MULTI-CHAPTERED!
Relationships: Gi Kast (OC)/Savage Opress, Savage Opress/Original Character(s)
Series: Mando Savage & Family [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1533569
Kudos: 3





	1. Sol'yc Gehat'ik

"Vaash, Gi!" Cuyan, bundled in warm clothes from his toes to the tips of his lekku, poked his nose past the heavy blankets in the doorway after closing the door behind him. "Sha dayn nakar'ulik!"There's some animal outside!

"Me'ulik?"What animal? (colloq.) Gi asked from where they sat in the karyaimain room, the main room, mending socks while Feral played with a set of colourful nesting balls at Gi's feet.

Cuyan made a frustrated noise. "Bic epa cuun duse!"It's eating our trash!

Gi paused their mending.

Savage appeared from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. "Tion'megin ulik?"What animal? (proper) he repeated Gi's question, grabbing a parka and a muunyak-wool headband to protect his ears from the cold.

"Resol taabe bal munit shebriik. Sa ibic muninar"Six legs and long tail. About yea high., Cuyan explained, showing the height with his hand. "Ve'vut'salyc."Gold-coloured.

"Cuyla striil"Probably a strill, Gi said, setting aside their mending. "Ni hiib'gar laam jii"I'll pick you up now., they murmured to Feral and picked her up. They wrapped her in a sling in practised movements. While they pulled on an oversized coat to accommodate the extra bulk, Savage put on his boots and exited the vheh'yaim~yurt, lit. earth-home house with Cuyan.

A feral strill, a six-legged gliding carnivore, had indeed broken into their compost. It froze for a tick and lifted its head out of the previously locked container to stare at Savage and Cuyan. Savage stopped a good few metres away and crossed his arms, watching as a piece of garbage slid off the creature's snout.

"Must be hungry", Savage mused, arms crossed. "The snow is so deep and soft that it makes hunting difficult. And the weather is very cold, as well."

"So it needs to eat more to stay warm", Cuyan agreed. "Maybe we should give it food?"

"Copaani yaim'ulik? Jor' iba'de gar gana yaim'ulik"Want a pet? 'Cause that's how you get a pet., Gi said while walking up. The strill's ears twitched.

"Ni copaani yaim'ulik"I want a pet., Feral said thoughtfully.

"Bic ori'dawori"It stinks., Savage said.

Cuyan looked up at him with a frown. "Me'ven?"Huh?

Gi snorted. "Striile klesi dush bah ruug'la jage"Strills smell bad for old men., they explained, the corners of their mouth twitching at the side-eye Savage gave them at the 'ruug'la''old'. "Bah ni balyc, shal ash'ca'narase."For me too, sometimes. Gi grinned up at Savage. "You'd get used to it."

The strill ducked its head back into the compost bin. Cuyan sighed. "We should feed it", he said with the weariness of someone making a tough decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sha dayn nakar'ulik! = There's some animal outside! (lit. At out unknown animal!)
> 
> Me'ulik? = What animal? (colloq.)  
> karyai = main room
> 
> Bic epa cuun duse! = It eats our trash!
> 
> Tion'megin ulik? = What animal? (more careful grammar)
> 
> Resol taabe bal munit shebriik. = Six legs and [a] long tail.  
> shebriik = tail, lit. butt-line, from shebs+briik  
> Sa ibic muninar. = Like this tall.  
> Ve'vut'salyc. = Gold-coloured.
> 
> Cuyla striil. = Probably [a] strill.  
> Ni hiib'gar laam jii. = I pick you up now. (Note: should be "hiibi gar" -- I'm trying to make Gi's speech more colloquial.)  
> vheh'yaim = a traditional Mandalorian dwelling similar to a yurt or yaranga, made of woven green wood and mud. A typical vheh'yaim is partially submerged in the ground, with a sunken entrance and a cut-in stairwell accessway, lit. earth-home
> 
> Copaani yaim'ulik? = Want [a] pet?  
> Jor' iba'de gar gana yaim'ulik. = 'Cause that's how you get [a] pet. (Full: "Jorcu ibac de...")  
> yaim'ulik = domesticated animal, lit. home-animal
> 
> Ni copaani yaim'ulik. = I want [a] pet.
> 
> Bic ori'dawori. = It really reeks.
> 
> Me'ven? = Huh?
> 
> Striile klesi dush bah ruug'la jage. = Strills smell bad to old men.  
> Bah ni balyc, shal ash'ca'narase. = To me too, sometimes.  
> shal ash'ca'narase = sometimes, lit. at other times


	2. T'adla Gehat'ik

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exposition in the guise of feeding a hungry strill.

“Tion’de gar kar’tayli meg meh mhi dinui skraan bah te striil, bic olaro yaim’ulik?”How do you know that if we give food to the strill, it becomes a pet? Cuyan asked, following Gi as they went indoors and toed off their boots.

“Striile sa ibac”Strills are like that., Gi said with a shrug as they headed for the root cellar, readjusting the birikadbaby-carrying harness holding Feral on their back. “Balyc, kurs’striile be Krownest an ade be yaim’striile.”Besides, the forest strills of Krownest are all offspring of pet strills. Gi hooked aside the insulating rug and opened the cellar door, stepping down the couple steps into the cellar. Gi looked over the options. They couldn’t give the strill any of the salt-cured or otherwise preserved meats. Any small game they hunted they ate right away to prevent spoilage. The results of ice fishing never stored long either. “Ke hiibi kai’rugame”Take eggs., they told Cuyan.

Cuyan grabbed a few nuna eggs, as instructed.

“Ke shuku ibac’e lo ya’gai”Break them in a bowl., Gi added, waiting for Cuyan to step out of the cellar. Gi stayed behind to close the door and cover it with the rug while Cuyan left to break the eggs into a bowl. Feral was quiet, quieter than usual, and it came as no surprise when she yawned.

Savage hung back. He had agreed to them taking in the strill if it was inclined to stay around, but unlike Gi, he had no experience with the animals. Gi said Sundari didn’t permit strills, and they wouldn’t enjoy living among the manicured trees and bushes, anyway; they were hunting animals. Savage had little difficulty believing that. He, too, was more comfortable living in the vheh’yaimearth-home with wilderness as their backyard, in the relatively primitive living conditions of this small Krownest community. It felt like home, for all the cold weather drove his balls to take all but permanent residence in close vicinity to his body. (Perhaps a slight exaggeration; he knew by now how to dress for the weather.) Jelucan had been the same, weather-wise, but there they’d lived in an apartment. Still, if all else was equal, he preferred the backwoods of Krownest over the sterile metal bio-cube of the "official" Mandalorian capital. According to Gi, no Mando save for the naak’adethe Pacifists considered Sundari the capital. Sundari was _naak’aloriya_ , the Pacifist Mandalorian capital. Savage found some irony in the disdain with which Gi spoke of the _naak’ade_ despite having grown up in their midst. Hadn’t they been one of them? Yes, they had. Wasn’t who they’d chosen to be.

The Mandalorian ideal of cin vhetina fresh start, a clean slate, lit. white field. It felt particularly fitting, with the white field of snow that surrounded and partially covered their vheh’yaimearth-home.

Cuyan walked up carrying the bowl of nuna egg and stepped into his boots. Savage exited the _vheh’yaim_ with his son and they walked around the building to the compost bin. The strill watched their approach with tense energy.

“Don’t bring it too close”, Savage warned Cuyan. “It could defend the compost now.”

“Yeah, it’s its food now”, Cuyan agreed. “I know.”

Cuyan approached further, set the bowl on the snowy path and retreated. He took the incentive to push Savage back; Savage let himself be pushed.

The strill still watched them, then glanced at the bowl. Its nostrils flared and it jumped off the compost bin. It approached the bowl, pausing once and again to evaluate Cuyan and Savage’s reactions. Finally, it reached the bowl. It sniffed the contents. With its teeth, the strill grabbed hold of the bowl’s edge and pulled it back to the compost before tucking in.

Cuyan looked up to Savage and grinned. Two of his sharp teeth were missing, his adult teeth slowly growing in. Savage gave a humoured hum, then glanced back as Gi returned without their younger child.

“Feral liniba nuhoy”Feral needs sleep, Gi explained, peeking around Savage to see the strill. “Ke mhi slan'at o'r”Let's go inside..., they added, “bal dinui bah bic ori’shya sha du’carshya.”...and give it more [food] later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tion’de gar kar’tayli meg meh mhi dinui skraan bah te striil, bic olaro yaim’ulik? = How [do] you know that if we give food to the strill, it becomes a pet? (Note the use of _te_! It's almost never used, but here, if I didn't have the option to use articles, I would need to use "that" to make the meaning clear. This means that the _te_ is necessary for distinction!)
> 
> Striile sa ibac. = Strills [are] like that.  
> birikad = baby-carrying harness  
> Balyc, kurs’striile be Krownest an ade be yaim’striile. = Also, [the] forest strills of Krownest [are] all offspring of pet strills.  
> Ke hiibi kai’rugame = Take eggs. (Using "food-sphere" for eggs for lack of anything I would hate less. If u have ideas that aren't "sen'ad", hmu.)  
> Ke shuku ibac’e lo ya’gai = Break them into a bowl.
> 
> vheh'yaim = a traditional Mandalorian dwelling similar to a yurt or yaranga, made of woven green wood and mud. A typical vheh'yaim is partially submerged in the ground, with a sunken entrance and a cut-in stairwell accessway.  
> naak'ade = New Mandalorians, lit. peace-people  
> naak'aloriya = New Mandalorian capital, Sundari, lit. peace-capital city. Not something Sundari is actually called, just one of Gi's barbs.  
> cin vhetin = fresh start, clean slate - lit. white field, virgin snow - term indicating the erasing of a person's past when they become Mandalorian, and that they will only be judged by what they do from that point onwards.
> 
> Feral liniba nuhoy. = Feral needs sleep.  
> Ke mhi slan'at o'r bal dinui bah bic ori’shya sha du’carshya. = Let's go inside and give it more later. Note: slan'at is a contraction of slana at, at o'r = lit. to in, sha du'carshya = lit. at later -- basically leaving the "time" implied.
> 
> I use Mando'a "weirdly", because I don't want to use it as basically a cipher of English, yar.


End file.
